Today’s wedding is extra special to me in a way that no other wedding ever could be. First and foremost, its the couple… my little sister and the one who finally stole her heart. Secondly, its their uniquely cool chemistry wedding theme that I had the pleasure of articulating for them in styling and florals. When I look back I realize how much their wedding was a true unintentional fingerprint of just who my sister and I are, two very different people. She, an engineer; myself, creatively minded. When Christy & James got engaged a million ideas started to flow about their wedding. Gatsby Gatsby, Art Deco!! Very quickly after exploring venues they realized that while they loved the idea, it wasn’t them. Soon enough they knew the right choice, an organic chemistry wedding nestled into their very own backyard. Immediately following that decision came the science flavored shopping spree of beakers, test tubes, microscopes, vintage chemistry sets (complete with mercury, yes mercury!), pipettes, and so many more delicious items that I will allow you to discover on your own. While those wedding decor elements are amazing as is, Christy & James’ have a pension for cool interior decor pieces in the home that we had our eye on. These vintage furniture pieces were immediately liberated from their home and used to breath new life as decor focal points throughout the backyard space! The next step was color, a palette that could be no more perfect a reflection of them both. Deep dark blood reds, light dusty beiges & springy greens filled the backyard, something that was the perfect compliment to my sister’s rockabilly style & Jame’s muscle car love. I could be completely biased in what I say next, but I truly believe that I am not… We’ve all sat through our share of wedding ceremonies, theirs however was the most amazing I have ever had the pleasure of taking in. One piece of decor that is an easy show stopper is one that I take precious little credit for… their otherworldly 2 panel college chemistry note (yes Christy’s actual notes from college!) ceremony backdrop done by hand, by my sister. With a backdrop like that you’d certainly hope for one hell of a show, and that is certainly what happened! In a fun twist on the day, my own husband married Christy & Jame’s, crafting a beautiful and hilarious ceremony that was the perfect blend of dry wit & scientific knowledge that kept everyone laughing and engaged. As good as he may have been, Christy & James’ vows stole the show. I don’t know how either of them did it but they both combined loving emotional life promises to one another, wrapped up in amusing quips about meeting at a gun range, muscle cars, life as explained by science and so much more. They were easily the two best vows I have ever heard in my life, filled with so much truth, so much love, and so much honesty, all delivered in such a beautiful way leaving not just themselves, but everyone cry laughing with joy. I know you came to look at the photos, so I’ll back away from the 5000 other things I could say about the day. I do however have one last thing, their gorgeous chemistry wedding was ever so beautifully captured by New York and California wedding photographer A Heart String, whose moody style could not possibly have been a more perfect match!

Notes From The Bride…

As far back as I can remember I have always been fascinated by the field of science. Science for me is about looking at the world around you and saying, ?Why do you work the way that you do?? and then not giving up until you?re satisfied with the answer. A lot of great discoveries were from folks taking an idea and running with it which is still what works today.

In college I loved to read about how these ideas became some of the greatest inventions of our time and it thrilled me to imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago when there still was so much to discover.

I think that’s where James and I really bonded was over our love for finding out what makes things tick. James has always been an extremely hands on guy and can pretty much fix ANYTHING. He gave me the confidence to take what I learned in theory and apply it to the real world.

About 8 or so months after James and I started dating, I revealed to James my secret obsession with rocks and geology. I was kind of a rock collection junkie and loved being outdoors collecting rocks and feathers and anything else that I found unique.

One weekend James surprised me with a camping trip and very special present – a gold panning for beginners kit!! This really was true love! We spent the entire weekend tail up in a river panning for gold and once we found a few specs in the pan I was hooked! We began going camping every free weekend we had to search for gold.

A lot of the spots we would read about where in very remote areas and small towns that used to be bustling. My favorite part about our trips was that we would always come across one or two antique shops that you KNEW were filled with cool little treasures. At first I would have to drag James in but after a while I could see he was fascinated at peaking into the past as much as I was.

I would always love to search through the antique stores for anything science related. When I compared the equipment they had to use then to what James and I use at work today; I found it incredibly interesting how scientists made discoveries hundreds of years ago. I would love to pick it up and think of all the cool discoveries that were made with it. So after a few of these trips it became about finding gold, collecting parts of nature, and looking for vintage science equipment. We started to amass quite a collection.

So naturally when it came time to think of a ?theme? for our wedding, I couldn?t think of anything better than combining our love for nature and science as these were all the things we loved and were a very large part of our lives. Furthermore, I didn?t like the idea of buying a thousand tschoke wedding items that would never be used again. It was important to us that a lot of our decor really was an extension of who we are.

Hello, This wedding looked incredible! My fiancé and I are planning our own science themed wedding. As soon as we saw the back drop for the ceremony, we knew we wanted something like that for our photo booth. Is there any chance that there are more close ups of each section?